CHICAGO — Around the beginning of July, Josh Bell had a conversation with David Freese and John Jaso. Bell, a 25-year-old switch-hitter, was midway through his first full season in the major leagues, and through June, he had a .315 on-base percentage and a .231 batting average.
The power was there — 15 home runs — but he struck out nearly twice as often as he walked.
Freese and Jaso presented Bell with an idea: Don’t “sit on,” or try to guess, the location of the next pitch. Instead, prepare for each pitch, regardless of the count, as though the pitcher is going to leave it in the sweet spot, referred to in hitter’s parlance as middle-middle.